An Income Tax raid on Maharashtra-based unicorn start-up ‘infra.market’ recently found an undisclosed income of more than Rs 224 crores, officials said on Sunday.
The 23 premises of the firm in Maharashtra, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, and Madhya Pradesh are raided since March 9.
As per CBDT data, the group, founded by Souvik Sengupta and Aaditya Sharda in 2016,who is engaged in wholesale and retail businesses for construction materials with an annual turnover exceeding Rs 6,000 crores. The Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) is responsible for compiling direct tax information.
According to the CBDT statement, the group had booked “bogus” purchases, made unaccounted cash expenditures, and received accommodation entries, to the tune of over Rs 400 crore.
Upon being presented with the pieces of evidence, “the directors of the group admitted under oath that this was their modus operandi, disclosed additional income of more than Rs 224 crores in various assessment years, and consequently offered to pay their due tax liability,” according to the CBDT.
It was found after the initial investigation that the group obtained significant foreign funding through the Mauritius route and that the shares were being sold at an “exorbitant” premium. The investigation revealed a hawala network of some shell companies based in Mumbai and Thane, the CBDT said.
Preliminary research has revealed that these shell entities were created only to provide accommodation entries. It was estimated that accommodation entries provided by these shell entities accounted for more than Rs. 1,500 crores.
